How He Left
by Raeni12345
Summary: Between "we could do pizza" and "finally!" A look at what happened to Hatter after Alice left Wonderland and before they are reunited in her world.
1. Chapter 1

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own rights to the characters or movie of Alice, this is simply my imagining of what might have happened, after Alice left Wonderland.**

"We could do pizza."

"And lots of other things."

And that was the last thing they said to each other. The scientist in the white jacket came, rather abruptly, and took Alice to the looking glass and with a quick reminder for her to try to breathe, pushed her through.

Hatter just stood there, mouth slightly ajar, staring in horror as the gleaming surface swallowed her up. His heart slammed angrily against his ribcage, and the resulting pain rivaled the electric prods of the doctors. He felt like he could barely breathe. Alice was gone. And the last thing he had said to her was "we could do pizza". We could do pizza?

The room was nearly empty before he was able to pry his eyes from the looking glass. A few oysters remained, waiting for their turn to go through. The scientist in the white jacket was making adjustments in preparation for the next departure. Jack and a few of his suits were standing to the side, and looking rather bored, but remaining out of duty to see that every last oyster made it back to their world. Hatter wasn't sure when Charlie had left, but the white knight was nowhere to be seen.

Hatter felt empty, and more than a little lost as he turned to go. From the corner of his eye, he saw Jack look over at him, then start in his direction.

Damn it. Hatter did not want to talk to him. He did not want to talk to anyone at that moment, but least of all Jack Heart.

Pretending that he didn't notice, Hatter instead just picked up his pace, ever so slightly, until he was past the door and out of sight. Then, mustering what little energy he still had left in his spent body, he broke into a run and disappeared into the maze of the city.

He stopped at the tea shop only long enough to grab a few of his clothes and two or three hats. The place had been thoroughly destroyed, first by the ransacking suits, then the looters in search of any drop of tea left. Even his office had been turned on end – furniture ripped apart, glass wardrobe shattered and clothes trampled, his tea collection long gone. But it didn't matter. He didn't want to stay here anyway.

He wanted to disappear. Hide away where he could heal and forget.

Hatter went home.

...

Home, as he called it, was a very small, two room apartment in the lower city. It was only three stories up from the ground, and it was always dark. Only by standing outside and craning one's head up could one see the sky, far above, and mostly obscured by buildings and bridges. Like everywhere else in the city, it was overgrown with plants, and tree roots grew through the wall and disappeared into the floor. And a thick layer of dust coated the few pieces of furniture that were there.

He hadn't lived here since he was fourteen, but having a safe place to run to had saved his life on more than one occasion. Occupational hazard of dealing tea for the queen.

Hatter shut the door and threw the locks into place. He wiped a spot on the table clean of dust and dropped his bundle onto it. Then he swept his hat off of his head and deposited it on top.

His eyes moved about the tiny apartment, from the bed to the edge of the footed tub in the bathroom, then back to the bed. He knew he was filthy, but right now his body ached for sleep, and his mind cried for the escape it would bring. He would bathe in the morning.

He slowly peeled off the paisley shirt and velvet pants that he had been wearing far too many days in a row, and dropped them to the floor. He threw himself onto the bed, ignoring the clouds of dust that it raised, and closed his eyes.

Sleep came quickly, but it was a tormented sleep. He watched as Alice was pulled from him and pushed through the looking glass, again and again and again.

He awoke with a broken heart. He had rarely cried, even as a child. But as he sat on the edge of the bed, all alone in his childhood home, he felt a sob rising in his throat, and tears came unbidden to his eyes. Feeling foolish and angry and all torn apart, Hatter buried his face in his hands and cried. He had been through so much – too much. He had been shot, been beaten up, lost his tea shop, been tortured, been forced to kill – twice! But for all that, the pain that hurt the most was his separation from the oyster who had caused it all! He realized he loved her. It was a shocking sensation really. He had never known what real love felt like. And, simultaneously, he knew that he should never have let her go... or at very least, should have gone with her. But it was too late now.

His tears gradually abated, though the misery remained, and he got up. He was once again aware of how badly he needed a bath. And some tea... real tea, and he would have to go out and get something to eat. He tried to think back to when he had last eaten – had it been the borogrove ribs, back in the woods with Charlie and Alice? He could still see her, sitting there in his purple jacket, in the firelight. They had fought that night, fought about Jack.

Jack. Everything had been about Jack. And even after all they had been through, he had come into the looking glass room, and she had been hugging Jack. He winced. That memory really stung.

The bath was not nearly so hot as he would have liked, however, he couldn't remember a bath ever feeling so good. After he finally climbed out (wrinkling his nose in disgust at how dirty the water in the tub was), he checked his wounds to ensure they were not becoming infected. Raised welts and burns, dark ugly bruises, and more than a few cuts, covered his torso, especially his right side, a testament to all he had been through in the last week. But they were already starting to look better. Satisfied he began to dry himself off with a coarse towel.

And that's when he heard a voice... an all-too-familiar voice... right outside the front door.

"Here we are, he's in there... yes, of course he is in there... well, I'm a knight! And I am well versed in the black arts."


	2. Chapter 2

Damn. What the hell was Charlie doing here? And who had he led right to Hatter's hiding place? Hatter cursed under his breath. Charlie was entirely too good at finding people... although it had come in handy when they were rescuing Alice.

Then came a loud, insistent knock on the door. Hatter hit the wall in frustration, and cursed again, louder this time, as he wrapped his towel around his waist and went to the door, water still dripping down his neck from his sopping wet hair.

He yanked the door open, much harder then he had intended, so hard that it came loose from the wall and clattered to the floor.

Standing in front of him, looking mildly amused, stood Jack Heart. Standing next to him, and doing nothing to contain his amusement, was the White Knight. And standing behind them both was someone that he knew, although they had never met. Caterpillar.

A loud groan escaped him, but he did not apologize for it or even try to muffle it. "Something I can help you with, your majesty?"

Thankfully, they let him escape with his clothes, back into the bathroom to get dressed. When he came back out, moments later, fully clothed and with his pork pie hat firmly back in place, he found only two of the three visitors, both standing in much the same manner that he had left them. He could hear by his "hey nonny nonny", that Charlie was not far away, but was now somewhere outside.

For a long, uncomfortable moment, no one inside said anything. Then Caterpillar turned to Jack, and said, "Ask him why he is here?"

"Why are you here, Hatter?" Jack obediently parroted.

Hatter tensed slightly. "Whaddu you mean?" he mumbled

"Ask him why he didn't go to Alice's world?" Caterpillar continued.

"Why didn't you go..."

"I can hear him!" Hatter snapped, but then checked his tone. "He can talk to me directly." Hatter bit his lip and fell silent.

"Were you afraid to go with her?" Caterpillar continued, finally directly addressing Hatter.

Hatter didn't reply, but clenched his jaw defiantly and looked away.

Jack watched Hatter for a moment and shook his head. It still bothered him slightly that Alice had turned down his proposal because she wanted to be with this dark, sullen... man, that stood in front of him now.

However, he was thankful that Alice had said no. He cared about Alice deeply, but in the end, he had proposed to her out of duty. She had saved Wonderland and handed him the throne – she had every right to be queen. But last night, when he had chosen to make the Duchess his queen – well, she had given him a night he would never forget.

His cheeks warmed slightly at the memory, but he pushed it aside. This was important.

As much as it grated on him, Jack knew that Hatter was as much a hero in the taking of Wonderland as Alice. And Caterpillar had drawn Jack's attention to just how big of a role Hatter had played. And was still to play, in a round about sort of way.

Hatter was still standing there, teeth clenched. He hadn't answered any of the questions that Caterpillar had asked.

"Hatter, we need to talk to you about Alice," Jack Heart said firmly, making direct eye contact. No longer did he act like it was beneath him to acknowledge Hatter. And Hatter noticed.

None the less, "You are the last person I want to talk to about her," Hatter almost growled back.

"Hatter, I asked her to be my queen."

Hatter flushed a little at this and clenched his fist.

"She said no," Jack hastily continued. "She said she wanted something else. Someone else."

Hatter's eyes grew big at this. Her last words "and lots of other things" started to resound in his head. Alice had invited him to go back with her to her world, had wanted him to go back with her to her world. He had to force himself to focus, because Jack was still talking. Or rather, confessing.

"I care about Alice, more then you will ever know, and she did save Wonderland, so she deserved to be queen. And it isn't easy for me to accept that I lost her affections to you. But I do care about her, and I want her to be happy. And she wants you..."

Jack was almost babbling at this point, but Hatter was barely hearing him. Alice chose him. He had won Alice's affections from Jack. Hatter's eyes took on an almost dreamy state.

Caterpillar, however, just looked annoyed, as he watched the two men behaving like oysters. "Tell him what will happen to Wonderland if he does not go."

Hatter immediately snapped back to reality. "What's going to happen to Wonderland?"

Jack looked uncomfortable now. "Hatter, you have to go to Alice's world, because if you don't, nothing that just happened will happen."

"Come again?"

Caterpillar looked at him for a long moment, and then spoke. "We have discovered that you were the one who was responsible for Alice coming to Wonderland. If you do not go, then she will not come, and all that she has done will come undone."

Riddles. Hatter tried to figure this one out, but came up blank. "What do you mean I was responsible?"

Jack pulled a cell phone from the pocket of his suit jacket. "You texted me."

"I what now?" Hatter was getting even more confused. He knew what a cell phone was – some of the suits had them, although the only places they worked were at the casino and a few places in the city. Very limited coverage. But he had no idea what Jack meant by texted.

"When I was in Alice's world, the first time, I kept receiving texts from a blocked number. Warning me that I was being followed. Telling me not to go back to my apartment one night. And then the night I was with Alice, I got a text that said RUN. I didn't know who was sending them, all I knew was that someone had my back. So, after I gave the ring to Alice, I ran. And she followed me. And came through the looking glass."

"And I... texted you?" Hatter's brain was spinning now. He shook his head. "How?"

"You were there."

"How was I there? I have never been to her world!"

"That's the thing. We need you to go."

Hatter shook his head again, not saying no, but simply struggling to wrap his mind around everything. Then it dawned on him. "But all this has already happened. And I wasn't there. If I went through now, I would land in Alice's world... now, not then. Yeah?"

Jack looked over at Caterpillar, awaiting the same explanation that he had received merely hours ago.

"The looking glass is a portal who's time and place is in flux between the oyster world and our world. That is why we can tune it to send the oysters back to almost the same time that they were taken from their world, even if they have been here for a long time. It can't send someone into the far past, or too far into the future, but it can be adjusted a few weeks or months in either direction."

Hatter took a moment to digest this. "So, you want to send me back to the time before Alice came to Wonderland, so that I can make sure that she will come to Wonderland."

"Yes," both Caterpillar and Jack chorused.

And from the other side of the wall, Charlie chimed in, "Best of luck, Harbinger."


	3. Chapter 3

**Okay, part 3 is up. Thanks to those who reviewed.**

**I had a bit of a harder time writing this then the first two parts, but I think it turned out okay. Enjoy, and please review :)  
**

Hatter was quickly coming to a couple of realizations.

The first, and perhaps the most shocking to him, was that Jack was actually not a bad guy. In the two days since the apartment, Jack had spent much time with him, teaching him about Alice's world, and how to make his way in it. And whereas Hatter knew that he and Jack would never truly like each other, let alone be friends, they had developed a respectful alliance and understanding of each other.

The other was that Caterpillar's emotionless monotone was very difficult to concentrate on, especially when he was droning for over an hour about what Hatter must do and could not do for the first six weeks that he was in Alice's world.

Hatter fought to not let his eyes glaze over, fought to concentrate, but more and more, he found himself instead daydreaming about Alice.

"Ahem."

Hatter's head jerked up. Caterpillar was watching him, annoyance written clearly on his face. Hatter groaned slightly.

"Sorry, I was listening," Hatter quickly blurted. "I can't be seen by Alice, under any circumstances, or she'll recognize me when she comes here."

Nice save, he congratulated himself as Caterpillar continued.

"Jack must be followed, but you must be invisible..."

It had been a whirlwind two days. He had been moved to the make-shift "palace", a series of apartments near the looking glass room. He had been well fed, given medical treatment, given a haircut (much to his dismay – he consoled himself with the thought that it had six weeks to grow back before he would see Alice), and given lesson after lesson about Alice's world, the pieces of paper that formed their currency (the thought of little pieces of paper having any value was still amusing to him), how to use a cell phone (and how to text), and what the different cards in his wallet all meant.

Most of them were identification – a birth certificate from Britain (stating his name as David James Hatter), a green card to make him legal in the States, a driver's license (although that came with a strict warning for him to not actually go driving). And there were cards that could be used as money – a credit card (which he understood was borrowed money), and a bank card.

Jack told him that he would find enough money in the bank account to last him for quite some time, though he would eventually need to get a job. Jack told him that the account would be set up in present time, so for the first six weeks he was there, he would have to use the pieces of paper (which there were plenty of in his wallet as well).

And for the first six weeks, he would have to rent a hotel room (there was one across the street from Jack's flat), but after that, Jack would sign his apartment over, to be Hatter's new home. He already had the key.

Hatter mentally went over the time line once again as he lay on the bed that night. He knew he couldn't afford to make any mistakes (or "the consequences could be terrible" as Caterpillar had put it, in his best monotone).

He knew that tomorrow he would face the looking glass. And he would have been excited, if it weren't that he knew it would be another six weeks before he would even be allowed to see Alice.

None the less, a combination of nerves and an over-stimulated brain robbed him of sleep for most of the night. He lay in the dark, flipping his hat around in his hands, mentally reciting his "lessons" until finally his brain could not take any more, and shut down for the night.

...

He stared at his reflection, wavering ever so slightly, as the looking glass powered up. He still thought short hair looked ridiculous on him, and he was thankful for the black fedora. He hated the gray shirt and blue trousers (Jack had called them jeans) that had been picked out for him to wear, but he had been told that this was clothing that oysters wore all the time in Alice's world.

He could see Jack and his suits, and further back, Charlie in his full white armor and Dormie (who was sound asleep), reflected behind him. The scientist in the white jacket stood before him, making some final adjustments to the looking glass.

Hatter just stood there, staring, much as he had the day that Alice had been pushed through.

He was leaving Wonderland... for good. He would go through the looking glass, and then the looking glass would be powered down and the ring locked away. Already the news of the coup and the oysters being sent home and tea production ending, was causing widespread panic and rioting among the tea addicts. There were fears that they would try to storm the looking glass and get to the oyster's world to get emotions from their source. So Jack and his advisers had determined that the only thing to be done was to shut down the portal permanently.

The looking glass was ready. The scientist in the white jacket approached Hatter and took him by the arm, strangely reminiscent of how he had days earlier, with Alice. He led him to the edge of the gilded frame.

"Just remember to..."

Hatter panicked. At the last second, he broke free of the scientist's grasp and backed away from the looking glass, struggling to breathe, trying to control his sudden fear, and trying desperately to resist curling up in a fetal position on the floor in front of everyone.

Hatter, who had punched a jabberwock without even thinking, who had stormed a group of armed suits with only a horse and a dull sword, found himself now facing a realization that terrified him far more.

A firm hand gripped his shoulder and turned him around. Jack stood there, looking concerned.

"Hatter?"

Hatter tried to steady his breathing. "I just need a minute," he said, cursing his voice for coming out so weak

"What's wrong Hatter?"

Hatter stared at his feet, color building in his cheeks. "I'm scared," he blurted, then cursed himself again, especially when he saw a bit of a smug look flit across Jack's face.

Jack said nothing, but his lip twitched upwards slightly. He hadn't thought twice about stepping through the looking glass when he had gone to find Alice. Finally, he thought, he had proven he was braver then this man. But the thought was only fleeting.

Hatter quickly tried to collect himself. But now a flood of fear flowed through his mind and out of his mouth before he could stop it. "I know I have to go to Alice's world, but what if I do something wrong? What will happen to Wonderland? And what if it doesn't work out between Alice and me? I could be stuck in her strange world forever, by myself, with no way to get back home." His voice was ragged and raw emotion spilled out, and he felt horribly embarrassed.

It had been the first time he had allowed himself to think about losing Alice, and it terrified him. They had only known each other for less than a week... and although it had been no normal week, it had still been a week. And he had spent much of it just trying to get her to trust him.

Trust him.

_"I'm sorry that I didn't trust you."_

_"Do you trust me now?"_

_"Completely."_

Hatter's chest loosened and he took a deep breath.

_"You know, you could always visit my world. You might like it."_

Hatter raised his head.

_"She said no. She said she wanted something else. Someone else."_

He looked at Jack, his calm returning.

Jack had to admire the strength of Hatter's will. He had gone from frantic to fully composed again in mere seconds. Still, Jack had one more offer to make.

"We have to shut down the looking glass, but before we do, I will set it to a month from today, and come visit you. If you want to then, you can come back, to Wonderland."

There was another quick round of goodbyes, between Hatter and Charlie, and Hatter and Dormie, who was once again awake. The suits nodded respectfully at him as he walked back up to the looking glass. It shimmered at him, expectantly. He touched the surface lightly with his fingers and felt it ripple.

The scientist in the white jacket came up beside him. "Try to..."

"Yeah, yeah. Try to remember to breathe. I know." And with that, Hatter jumped through the looking glass and disappeared from Wonderland.

**So how will Hatter fare in Alice's world? And how will he react to having to watch Jack woo her? Stay tuned!**


	4. Chapter 4

**This was originally only going to be the first two chapters - but it had promise, so here is chapter 4. It's kind of a filler chapter - Hatter's first impressions of Alice's world. Hope you like. More to come. (Please review).**

The bright, swirling, crazy colors, accompanied by the feeling of plummeting (not falling... it was too fast for falling), was extremely disorienting, and Hatter thoroughly forgot to breathe – if there was even any air to breathe in the vortex.

He flew out of the looking glass, feet first (thankful that he had thought to jump in rather then dive), but his heel came down on a loose piece of tile, that skidded out from under him, so instead of landing upright, he landed with a hard whack, flat on his back on the cement floor, gasping for air like a fish out of water, and wincing in pain as yet more bruises were added to his tally.

He lay there for a long moment, even after he had recovered his breath, staring at the rusted pipes and cracked cement ceiling above him. He wasn't in Wonderland anymore. He was in Alice's world. And if that wasn't hard enough to wrap his head around, he was in Alice's world six weeks before he and Alice had even met.

He felt a twinge of that same panic grip him, but fought against it. He could do this. He could do this, because he had to do this. And the fact that Alice had come to Wonderland and met him, and changed his life, was proof that he had been successful. Or that he would be successful...

Finally, he picked himself up off the floor, taking a long moment to straighten his back. He almost laughed, imagining that at the moment, he probably looked a tad like Charlie when his sacroiliac flared up. He'd miss that crazy old knight, that was certain.

He scooped up his pack, and retrieved the fedora, which had rolled away after his ungraceful entrance. He dusted himself off, and set to work at his first task – being to find his way out of this warehouse.

Thankfully that task did not prove terribly daunting. A couple of turns, a flight of rusty metal stairs, and he had reached the doorway opening to a narrow road, lined with metal boxes.

He hesitated, peeking his head around the doorway before venturing into the alley. Then, staying close to the metal boxes (even though the garbage in them smelled terrible), he made his way slowly to the end. He stopped, still slightly in the shadows, and stared out into the city – the oyster city – Alice's city.

It was nothing like Wonderland. For starters, it was extremely noisy. There was a constant hum and roar, and a distant pounding. And there were people everywhere, and everyone seemed to be in a terrible rush. And there were cars, which moved at frightening speed. He had seen pictures of cars before, in books, but he had no idea that they were so fast or so loud. Cars were impractical in a city not built on the ground.

But this city was. Everywhere he looked, the buildings grew out of level ground, not out of the tops of other buildings. There was not a bridge or a drop to be seen. He had never even imagined anything quite like it.

"_Why can't you build your cities on the ground?"_

He finally understood Alice's question, gasped out as she had clung to the ladder, so many levels up from the ground.

His curiosity sparked, Hatter grinned. Time to explore, he thought to himself as he stepped out of the alley and into the street.

Literally, into the street, and right into the path of a bright yellow taxi. The man behind the wheel stopped the car inches from Hatter, then leaned out of his window, screaming what Hatter could only imagine were obscenities at him.

Hatter darted back against a wall. He recalled Jack vaguely mentioning something about sticking to the sidewalks. Taking a deep breath, he started to walk again, watching the cars, and making damn sure he didn't step in front of one again.

Hatter's stomach had been growling for a good couple of hours when he found something that drew his eye - a low building with large plate-glass windows, and painted on one of the windows was a promise of "All-Day Breakfast." The same silly grin that had appeared and disappeared nearly a hundred times that day, split his face again. Breakfast always had been his favorite meal of the day, and the thought of breakfast for supper thrilled and amused him.

He had expected his server to be named Molly, after all, that was the name on the store. Instead, the pleasant, middle aged woman who served him wore a pin that said "Tessa".

She had handed him a plastic sheet, with a list of all sorts of food, followed by their cost. Hatter had stared at it for a while, trying to figure out what he wanted, but finally he had turned to Tessa with a charming smile, and asked her, "What's the best?"

She had returned, a few minutes later, with a tall stack of pancakes, topped with a ball of real butter, and a jug of syrup. Hatter could not remember the last time he had tasted anything so delicious.

Tessa watched with amusement as the young Brit in a black fedora plowed through his third plate of pancakes. Where was he putting it all? The man was fairly slight, though well built, and it certainly surprised her how much food he was putting away.

He finally looked up, and sighed with contentment.

"Anything else for you, hun?"

He had taken a couple of scones ("For later."), and had counted out some paper money for her, remembering what Jack had said about leaving a tip. He had balked at first at the idea of giving extra money to someone, just for doing their job, but Jack had explained that a lot of people who served others didn't get paid very much, so the tips were needed. In the end, he had actually left Tessa a pretty big tip, but he had liked her. She might be a useful ally in this strange town.

...

The hotel room was small and plain, and the spread on the bed looked to be of questionable cleanliness, but Hatter felt a bit relieved as he locked the door behind him, and leaned against it. He was exhausted, more mentally than physically. There had been so much to take in, so much to learn about the city. Good and bad. At the moment, he just felt overwhelmed and overstimulated.

There were so many shops here, where you could buy almost anything you could imagine. He had spent hours just wandering, amazed, through a supermarket. He had found a store with a large collection of hats (which had pleased him immensely), although many of them looked simply ridiculous (a "cowboy" hat for example), though he had picked up a couple of "caps", and another fedora, brown this time.

He had ridden an escalator for the first time, watched children playing on a fantastically colorful and intricate series of ropes and bars and slides in a park (and once they had gone, had climbed onto it himself, ignoring the sideways glances he got from passers by), and had breakfast for supper.

But he had also nearly been hit by a car more times then he could count, spent much of the day crushed in a crowd of people (which had made him very uneasy – more than once he had to break free of the crowd by dashing off between buildings to catch his breath), been yelled at and honked at, been accosted by beggars, and gotten thoroughly lost over and over again.

Tomorrow, he knew, he needed to find his landmarks – Jack's building (which was, thankfully, right across the street), Alice's home, the "dojo", which is where he knew Jack would be spending much of his time, and a few other places that Jack had mentioned that he had gone. And tomorrow, he knew, his task of following Jack would start in earnest.

After removing the offending bedspread and tossing it in a corner, Hatter got undressed and lay down on the bed. He thought he would fall asleep quickly, but instead he found himself listening to all the strange noises going on around him – this city was loud, even at night. He could hear cars rushing past outside, someone having a coughing fit somewhere in the building, and a loud wailing siren, as yet another "emergency" vehicle rushed by (he had been so startled the first time he had heard one that he had dived and hid, but began to realize that they were very common in this city).

"Alice, think about Alice!" he said out loud into the empty room. He pictured those big blue eyes, framed by dark lashes. He finally understood what he had seen in them the first day. The "where the hell am I", the confusion, the shock, the wonder.

He had felt all that and more today. 41 more days until he could see her again. He sighed and burrowed down into the covers. At least, until he could see her in person. Caterpillar had said nothing about seeing her in his dreams.


	5. Chapter 5

**Thanks for all the reviews. :)**

**Struggling a bit with the story at this point. I know where it wants to go, but trying to get it there is proving tricky. Hope this chapter works with the rest of it. Constructive criticism appreciated. :)  
**

Hatter had taken to spending much of his day on the roof of the rundown warehouse. It gave him a clear view of the dojo, so that he could watch anyone coming or going without getting too close. And it also positioned him perfectly to see if anyone came through the looking glass.

It was also the ideal location to blow off some steam.

Huge dents in the duct work, cracks in the concrete, and freshly bloodied knuckles attested to how dangerously Hatter had underestimated the jealousy he would feel, watching Jack wooing Alice.

They were there, standing outside the dojo after a private lesson (his third lesson this week), both still sweaty, both still in their white uniforms. And he could tell that Jack was pouring on the charm, thick. But what bothered him far more was that Alice was falling for it. Even without his binoculars, he would have been able to see the smile on her face, read the flirtatious positioning of her body. And it was driving him mad.

At first, he had tried to reason with his jealousy. "This is the past," he had told himself. "How it happened. She doesn't want him in the end. She wants me." But that had just started up his fears again – what if she didn't want him in the end? After all, the end hadn't happened yet.

So he had resorted to a more primal method of dealing with his jealousy. Cracking walls and bending metal.

He knew that tonight was Jack's first date with Alice. He also knew that it was the date of the first message he sent. But in the five days that he had been here, he hadn't seen anyone who looked to be even remotely from Wonderland, let alone anyone who was looking for Jack.

He balled up his right fist and drove it into the metal duct with the force of his angst. One of the thick metal bolts holding it in place snapped in half. But it did the trick. Hatter could feel his sanity returning. "Don't know how much more o' this I can take," he muttered to himself as he scooped up his bright yellow hardhat and headed for the stairwell.

He had swapped out his usual hats for this garish yellow shell for a couple of reasons. There was construction going on all around the old warehouse, and he knew that if he was seen, it would be assumed that he was one of the workers. And, if a piece of the warehouse did decide to tumble down on him - well, better it then a fedora.

He stopped by the looking glass on his way down. From this side it just looked like a gaudy mirror, and horribly out of place in such an industrial setting. But the rundown warehouse hadn't been used in years, save as shelter for the occasional homeless person, so it was almost the perfect hiding spot.

He laughed a bit when he looked at his reflection. The overly tame clothes, the still too-short hair, the hard hat. "Hatter the oyster," he muttered to himself, with a wry smirk.

He felt a slight surge of homesickness, but fought it back. This was where he belonged now, in Alice's world.

He stepped away from the glass and headed for the alley. If he hurried, he might still have time to get to Molly's for a bite before he had to tail Jack again.

Tessa had grown accustomed to David's patronage. Every shift she came, he was there, whether it was for breakfast or for supper. And she was starting to pin down his preferences – tea rather then coffee (he had nearly choked on the coffee the one time he had tried it), pancakes and waffles were welcome any time, he liked burgers but not the fries, bacon and sausages but not eggs.

She wasn't surprised to see him arrive tonight either, yellow hard hat under his arm. He smiled slightly in her direction, but she could tell he wasn't in terribly good spirits.

"Rough day?"

"Unh," he grunted in reply. She took that to mean yes.

"Waffles then?"

She saw the corner of his mouth turn up at that, and smiled as she went to place his order.

Hatter took a large bite of waffle and chased it with an equally large bite of sausage. Eating at Molly's had quickly become his routine, something comfortable in a world he still didn't really understand. And Tessa had taken almost a motherly interest in him, and he realized he didn't actually mind, although it did surprise him.

Tessa had just finished ringing another customer's bill through, and was heading toward Hatter's table to see if he wanted seconds when he jumped up with a cry and his eyes went a bit wild. His hard hat clattered to the floor, and he barely noticed.

Startled, she took a step backwards. "Are you okay, David?"

He turned from the window for only a brief moment, glancing at Tessa's worried gaze. "I hafta run," he blurted, fumbling with his wallet and pulling out a couple of bills and dropping them on the table. Then he swept up his hat and disappeared out the door.

Hatter darted around the corner and out of sight, then slowly turned and peered out into the street again. He had just seen a familiar face among the people walking by the shop windows. And he hoped that face had not seen him.

White suit. Silver hair, tied down his back in two long tails. Black walking stick.

Agent White.

Hatter had no doubt that he was looking for Jack. The head of the White Rabbit wouldn't have been sent through for an oyster harvest.

Thankfully, the man never turned, but continued up the street. Hands shaking slightly, Hatter pulled out his cell phone.

Jack was just about to walk out of his building when his cell phone buzzed and beeped in his pocket. He jumped a bit, and hesitated. Nobody had his number here. His brow knit together as he opened the phone.

A blocked number. But an ominous message. "White rabbit is here."

Jack's eyes widened, and he felt his pulse quicken. He hadn't expected them to trace him so quickly – he had hoped that the looking glass would run out of power before they could find him.

At the same time, he felt more than a little surprised at the warning. Caterpillar had told him that on this side of the glass, he would have no allies. No one could know where he was, because the Queen had ways of making people talk.

Perhaps Caterpillar had relented and sent someone after all.

In any case, Jack suddenly decided to take a cab.


	6. Intermission

**A bit from the cutting room floor. Next chapter jumps right back to the story.  
**

Hatter lay on his bed, staring at the shadows caused by the street lights across the white ceiling.

"That's the problem with time, ya know," he told himself out loud (something he knew he needed to stop doing... here in the oyster world, that tended to draw strange looks).

He knew that at the end of this story, this twist of fate and time, he and Jack were allies, and that Alice didn't want Jack anymore. But here he was, forced to watch Alice in Jack's arms again. Except that for them, it was the first time. For Hatter, it was horrible repeats.

And he was really starting to hate Jack again.


	7. Chapter 7

**My vacay is almost over, so the updates may come slower after this. Then again, possibly not. I am really enjoying writing this. Please keep reading and reviewing :) And thanks for the awesome feedback!**

_Don't give anything away. You're being watched. _

It was the latest in a stream of text messages that Hatter had sent Jack.

And it was true. Hatter had seen six different White Rabbit operatives over the past week and a half, taking turns following Jack around. However, following him around was all that they were doing. Hatter wasn't sure why they weren't trying to capture him, but he was thankful that, for the moment, all they were doing was spying.

Perhaps they didn't know he was Resistance?

The more Hatter watched Jack, the more he despised the man. And the more attached Alice got to Jack, the more damage Hatter did to the top of the warehouse. But in spite of that, he had become much more vigilant in his watching Jack since seeing Agent White. After all, he couldn't let anything happen to Jack early, or Alice would not end up in Wonderland, and everything would unravel. Not to mention, he would lose any chance he had of a happy ending.

"… and all this misery would be for nothing."

At the moment, Hatter was dealing with a very different problem.

It had started out a day earlier as a bit of coughing and a runny nose. But when Hatter awoke in the morning, his head felt like it was filled with soggy porridge. His neck and shoulders ached, and a dry cough wracked his body. And he felt so cold.

He couldn't remember the last time he had gotten sick in Wonderland. Probably over a decade ago, possibly even two. But he would quickly learn that he didn't have the same immunity to oyster illnesses.

Right now he was sitting at his usual booth at Molly's, sipping tea and pushing his sausages and toast around the plate. Only a couple of small bites had made it to his mouth, and the waitress and the kitchen staff were all shooting him looks of concern. Tessa hadn't arrived for shift yet, and none of the others were as familiar with David as she was, but his appetite had become a legend of its own there.

So to see him, so obviously ill and uninterested in food, concerned them all.

And it took Tessa less then a minute from the time she walked in to know that something was very wrong with her favorite customer.

She materialized at his side and placed a hand on his arm. Even through the sleeve of his shirt, she could feel the heat coming off of his skin.

"David, are you alright?"

He looked at her with bleary, miserable eyes.

"Hun, you shouldn't be here. You should be in bed."

"I can't," he mumbled. "Have to work."

"Work? You look like you can barely stand up. I'm sure your foreman will cut you some slack. Go home."

He was shivering now, and feeling worse by the minute.

Tessa shook her head "Drink your tea, I'll be right back."

Hatter swallowed another mouthful, and then she was by his side again, pressing something into his hand. He looked down to see a metal and plastic package with pills inside.

"What's this?"

"Cold medicine," Tessa replied. "It'll make you feel better. That, and a day or two in bed. And drink lots of water and tea."

In the end she had sent him away with two bottles of water, and without paying for his breakfast. He had tried to, but she had shooed him off.

"Or don't you remember the thirty-two dollar tip you left me on an eight dollar meal," she had quipped, "that day you took off like a bat outta hell."

And so he was back in his hotel room, and lacking the energy to do any more then eat a few of the pills Tessa had given him and collapse back on the bed. He hoped that Jack could look after himself for one day.

The sun was low in the sky before he stirred. He felt a bit better, in any case his head didn't feel so stuffed up. He still had a nasty cough though, and his nose was dripping again. And he was still shivering.

He stretched a bit, and walked over to the window, glancing across the street at the window to Jack's apartment.

And he froze. He could see movement inside, but it was not Jack. Three of the men who he had seen following Jack were in there. Looking for something. Turning the place upside down.

Then a cold realization hit the pit of his stomach. They were looking for the ring. And he prayed that Jack hadn't left it somewhere that they would find it.

Jack! Where was Jack? Hatter's panic reached a full on frenzy now. Had they caught him? Had he failed at his mission because he got sick?

Hatter struggled to pull his shoes on, finding them more then a little unyielding, and he finally rushed from his hotel room barefooted, and out the back door. A coughing fit overtook him as he got outside, and he doubled over for a moment.

Then he was off again, skirting the building, keeping his eye on Jack's apartment window.

Then, to his immense relief, he saw Jack round the corner onto the street. He hadn't been in the apartment. He wasn't hurt. He didn't even know anything was going on.

But he was headed, quite quickly, straight towards trouble.

Hatter fumbled with his cell phone, struggled to type quickly, and hoping that the message would reach him in time.

Jack's phone buzzed and beeped in his pocket again. He immediately pulled it out and flipped it open. His unknown guardian was warning him again. And truthfully, Jack was grateful to whoever it was.

_Rabbit at your flat. Leave now. _

Hatter saw Jack open his phone, and then promptly turn and rush back in the direction that he had come. Hatter slid down the wall, feeling light headed, and another coughing fit took him. He stayed there in the shadows, watching the window until the men had left.

And in the distance, he heard a siren start to wail.

The nasty cough stuck around for quite a few days, but thankfully the pills that Tessa had given him seemed fairly strong, and made being sick more tolerable.

But sick or not, Hatter went back to watching Jack the next morning. Ensuring that he was safe. Concerned that the operatives were getting more aggressive.

He noted, gratefully, that there still seemed to only be six of them. Well, seven if he counted Agent White, but since the day outside Molly's, he hadn't seen him again. He had not doubt he was still here, but was letting his cronies do the chasing.

He also noted that the operatives were starting to stick a lot closer to Jack when they saw him, marking his steps, searching the places that he had been. So in like manner, Hatter also began to tail Jack from less of a distance.

Hatter had abandoned his post at the top of the warehouse for a small shrubbed road closer to the dojo, just in case. Jack was in there again, this time in a group lesson with other beginners. Hatter had swapped his hardhat for a cap, pulled low over his face, and watched the class, still somewhat distantly, through the side window.

And from his new vantage point, he could see Alice's face, her eyes scanning the students, appraising them, watching them throw each other onto the mats.

His heart beat faster, and the all-to-familiar longing to be with her overwhelmed him for a moment. He knew he couldn't let her see him. But he was happy, at that moment to watch her. He could watch her all day. He longed to watch her all day. Someday, he promised himself, he would do just that.

But it wouldn't be today. The class was wrapping up, and Hatter had to put more distance between himself and the dojo, so he could watch where Jack went next. That, and he didn't want that close of a view of Alice kissing Jack. He had already seen that more often then he wanted to, and where he had hoped his reaction would lesson over time, it hadn't.

And that's when he made his mistake. He stood up, turning a little too quickly, and crashed directly into the chest of a man in a gray button up shirt. And on his lapel was a small pin with a white rabbit.


	8. Chapter 8

Hatter's eyes went wide and he inhaled quickly. Too quickly. Damn.

Trying to recover, he mumbled, "Sorry," the way he had heard other oysters apologize when they jostled someone in a crowd, and moved around the suit, trying to appear normal, and hoping desperately that the man hadn't noticed his reaction.

But Hatter knew he had.

From the corner of his eye, he saw the man turn. "Hey," he called, and reaching out, grabbed Hatter's left shoulder.

Hatter wheeled around, his right fist ready, and caught the man square in the face. He dropped like a brick, and Hatter ran.

"_No one from Wonderland can see you. You don't exist. You must be an oyster. They can't know you are there, or it could change everything."_

Hatter threw himself down on the warehouse roof, devastated and numb. He had failed. He hadn't been careful enough. He had broken one of the cardinal rules that Caterpillar had set out for him. Dire consequence and the like.

By now the White Rabbit would have found their unconscious operative. And they would know that Jack was not alone. And this transgression would change what would happen, which would change what had happened. Wonderland. Alice.

The four weeks he had spent in Alice's world had taken its toll on Hatter. Trying to figure out a world that didn't make sense, having to be always on his guard, having to watch the woman he loved with another man, worrying about what would happen when he and Alice were finally united, being sick, being bombarded by oyster emotions (not the liquid kind, the real kind)... and above all, the heavy weight of knowing that the fate of Wonderland rested on his shoulders – had pushed him to the edge, to his breaking point.

To have failed, with only 10 days left of his mission, broke him entirely.

He didn't punch walls and pipes. He didn't throw things. He didn't curse or yell.

He just lay there, staring at the sky with dull, unseeing eyes.

...

"What is this?" Agent White asked, with a slightly nervous jerk of his head, as one of his suits dragged a half-conscious operative through his hotel door.

"He was attacked," the fully conscious suit replied, depositing his load onto the hotel floor.

"By who?"

A drink of water and a couple of minutes later, pushing an ice pack to the bridge of his nose, the six of spades had recovered enough to answer. "Resistance operative, I think. Definitely from Wonderland. He was following the prince."

Agent White bit back a curse. The last thing he needed was resistance fighters making his job more difficult.

More twitching. "How many were there?"

"Just the one..."

There's never just one, Agent White thought to himself.

"... but whoever he is, he's got a mean right hook."

"A mean right hook?" Agent White's eyes flickered, and he pursed his lips against a smile, for a moment looking very much like a rabbit himself. So, he thought, he is working for the Resistance after all. This piece of news would be very valuable if whispered in the right ears. After all, the queen would want to know that her favorite tea seller was a double agent.

"Be on your guard," he told his men. "We need to know just how many Resistance are here before we act. This could make capturing the prince much more difficult."

...

Hatter's eyes fluttered open to glowing green blobs oozing up and down black walls. He tried to move, but his arms were tied to a metal chair. The metal chair. He was back in the torture room. NO!

Had this all been the psychological torture of the doctors? Killing Mad March, rescuing Alice, defeating the queen, his deal with Jack, following Alice into her world... if so, it had been the most intricate torture he had ever had to endure. He struggled against his bonds, but they held.

Then two figures appeared, one at his right, one at his left. But instead of the doctors' matching demented smiles, he saw Jack Heart and Caterpillar.

"Ask him why he is here?" Caterpillar said.

"Why are you here, Hatter?" Jack parroted.

Hatter clenched his eyes shut. Not again.

"If you do not go, then she will not come, and all that she has done will come undone."

Hatter tried to tune it out. This was more of the doctors' games. Why is a raven like a writing desk?

"You sent me the first text on March 18th, in the evening. I was getting ready for my first date with Alice. It'll be five days after you arrive."

The clockwork's not ticking properly.

"... can't know you are there, or it could change everything."

Maybe crumbs in the butter.

He could see them both, even with his eyes shut. And the green blobs. They made him feel dizzy.

"I spent a lot of my time at the dojo. That'll be one of the first places you need to find."

Why is a raven like a writing desk? WHY IS A RAVEN LIKE A WRITING DESK?

"You must make sure that you do exactly what it is that you did."

Hatter's eyes snapped open, involuntarily. "What does that even mean?" he barked, hoarsely.

"It means we don't know what you did," Jack replied.

"But you must do it, all the same," Caterpillar added.

Hatter's eyes fluttered. The ground felt cold under his back, and the sky above him was dark. He felt a bit disoriented, and very stiff. He had no idea how long he had been laying there.

All he did know was the dream, if it had been a dream, had somehow knit the pieces of his mind back together. And Jack's last words – an echo of a memory from over four weeks ago but three weeks in the future - rang in his head.

"_We don't know what you did."_

He punched a suit, that's what he did. And just possibly, that was what was supposed to happen.

"The future's already happened. Which means this has already happened. And we didn't know what I did back then... now... other then the messages." Hatter was talking out loud to himself again. "I'm not changing the past. This is what I did." And he started laughing, and it felt so freeing to laugh. "Maybe I am going mad," he said finally, and chuckled again.

He pulled himself up on the wall and looked out over the city. He had never been up here at night, and he found the city lights to be quite mesmerizing.

Then he saw them. The streetlight outside the dojo illuminated a couple on the sidewalk. Alice and Jack. She had him by the hand and was pulling him toward the dojo doors. He feigned pulling away, and Alice jumped forward and kissed him. And kept kissing him. Then she pulled open the dojo door and dragged him inside.

The ductwork made a thunderous bang as it came loose from its housing and flew a few feet across the roof.

...

**That was a really hard chapter to write. Struggling to get Agent White's voice right, in spite of watching his parts of Alice.  
**

**And hopefully this chapter isn't too confusing - it jumped around a bit. Review please! Constructive criticism always welcome!  
**


	9. Flash ForwardBack

**Excuse the break in the time line. The next chapter will pick up where the last chapter left off.**

"Oh, we'll find her alright, but you, Agent White will have no more part in it."

With that, the Queen of Hearts waved her hand dismissively.

"His head, ma'am?" the Ten of Clubs asked, as calmly as if he were asking if she'd like a cup of tea.

"Of course, what else, his foot?"

Agent White had felt so smug, sitting there in the waiting room, ring box in hand. He had even responded, almost mockingly, when the Ten of Clubs had said, "You're late."

"I know... I'm sorry." In a voice that indicated that he was anything but sorry. And with a twitch of a self-satisfied smile.

But it had all come crashing down, not twenty minutes later, when the queen had uttered the words, "What a charming practical joke." And he had realized that the girl still had the ring. And naturally, she had been the one who escaped. They had noticed the empty box when they had landed the scarab, and wondered where she had fallen out. But it hadn't mattered. Oysters didn't tend to survive very long in Wonderland.

However, her escape was now his death sentence. He had seen the resigned look on the king's face, and knew that the king would not step in to save him this time.

Unless...

"I have information."

The Nine of Clubs hesitated. In like manner, the spades that were walking two paces ahead stopped and turned toward him.

"What kind of information?" Nine looked Agent White over suspiciously.

"The valuable kind," he said pointedly. "It's about the Resistance."

Nine stared at Agent White's haggard white face, his twitching lips, his twitching head. Trying to determine if this was a ruse or something worth getting the king for.

Finally he motioned the suits over. "Take him to the holding room. I'll get the king."

Agent White's lips twitched up slightly as he was locked into the empty cell to wait for an audience. This information he had learned in the oyster world, while following the prince, would be valuable indeed if it would spare his life. Maybe get him a retirement in the countryside instead of in a coffin.

...

The king wore a pleased expression as he walked back into the throne room. This might prove to be just the distraction his beloved queen would need while she waited for them to bring her favorite assassin to her. Might stop her pacing. And might save a few more heads.

The Queen of Hearts noticed his expression immediately. "What is it? Tell me," she demanded.

"Of course, my lovely. I have a delicious piece of information for you."

"Out with it!" She was still in a vile mood, and it was getting worse by the moment.

"I've found out the identity of another Resistance insider." The king smiled, just a little smugly. Her eyes immediately registered her interest. "He runs one of your tea shops. Out in the city. The Hatter."

The Queen of Hearts eyes narrowed. "Are you sure?" The Hatter was one of her best sellers. He turned a remarkable profit on the teas, while keeping her subjects appeased, and his tea shop serviced much of the upper city. That, and he was charming and complimentary, and had always shown the proper respect.

"Yes, my queen. The White Rabbit spotted him in the oyster world, aiding the Resistance."

"Is that so?" She mulled this new information over, then a cruel smile played on her bright red lips.

"I think the tea shop might just be Mad Marchy's first stop."

**What do you think? I had always wondered how the assassins knew to go to Hatter's tea shop first.  
**


	10. Chapter 10

**Back to original timeline. Thanks for the reviews, please keep them coming. :) Enjoy.**

They were harvesting oysters after all.

Hatter had thought that the White Rabbit was only occupied with Jack. However, it had been a nasty shock for him when he found out.

He had gone back to wearing his hardhat, even when he was around town during the day. And after observing some of the construction workers around the city, he had swapped out his usual jeans for coveralls. He was becoming more and more of a chameleon, and as much as he hated his new sense of style, he knew it was necessary. It was a front. He now blended in almost perfectly.

Perhaps too perfectly.

He had been walking from the warehouse back toward his hotel when it happened. Someone came up behind him, slowly, and cleared his throat. "Excuse me," the man had said.

Hatter had turned to see who was talking to him, and the suit standing behind him spritzed something right into his face.

He staggered back, a little dazed, and a fog misted his eyes for a second. Then he coughed, and his eyes cleared. The suit looked confused at his reaction, and didn't react quickly enough to elude the fist Hatter drove into his jaw.

They had tried to harvest him. Hatter didn't know whether to be amused or angered by that, and the result was an agitated mirth. He knew that, if he had been an oyster, that drug that the suit had sprayed him with would have turned him instantly catatonic. Thankfully, the drug had little effect on people from Wonderland – it could muddle them a bit, for a moment, but that was all.

But the experience had drawn his attention to the fact that he had not been watching the White Rabbit nearly as closely as perhaps he should have been. He had been too busy watching Jack, and far too distracted watching Alice, and battling his frustration whenever it was the two of them together. Especially when they went to the dojo, alone, after hours.

He wondered if there was anything he could do to stop the harvesting and perhaps save a few oysters. He didn't have a plan... yet.

But then, he had too much to do to spend much time coming up with a plan. Because upon arriving at his hotel, he could immediately see that something was wrong.

There was a white van parked outside of Jack's flat. And the driver was sitting there, in a gray button up shirt and a tie, and watching the building through sunglasses, in spite of the fact that it really wasn't sunny anymore.

And he could see three more suits, trying to act nonchalant and inconspicuous. Hatter shook his head. He wondered how the White Rabbit could be so successful when they were so obvious. He knew they were lying in wait for Jack. And he knew that they were done watching him.

Hatter barely got into the lobby of the hotel before he pulled out his cell phone and sent a series of rapid fire texts to Jack.

"_Rabbit at your flat. Danger. Stay away." _Then, "_Lose your tail and hide." _He wasn't stupid. He knew that at least one of the suits was still following Jack, possibly two, or even more. _"Stick with the crowds," _he texted finally, then rushed up to his room to change clothes and go look for Jack.

Hatter didn't stay at the hotel after that. And Jack didn't return to his flat. Instead, Hatter followed Jack constantly, and caught what sleep he could on top of the warehouse once Jack was hidden away in a hotel room (a different one each night). Jack was far more alert now, constantly keeping an eye out, and as often as not, spotting the White Rabbit himself. Hatter found himself fostering a small bit of admiration for Jack when he managed to even shake him a couple of times.

And Hatter kept an eye on the comings and goings from the looking glass. The oyster harvest was increasing, and there was one suit in particular who stayed by the looking glass almost constantly - it seemed to be his job to ferry the stunned oysters through to the other side.

It was early morning, two days and counting. Hatter woke up cold, tired, and with a stiff neck from sleeping on the concrete, and found himself longing to go back to the hotel to sleep, instead of to just shower and change clothes. But he knew he needed to keep tabs on the White Rabbit and on Jack, and if that meant sleeping within earshot of the looking glass, so be it.

He peered over the edge of the wall, and saw the white van parked just outside the warehouse. And as he crept down toward a side door, he heard suits talking. There were two of them, and they were bringing in more oysters. A man in a business suit, a young woman in loose fitting jogging clothes, and a teenage boy. Then his breath caught in his throat and he let loose a strangled cry, and he found himself charging down toward the looking glass as fast as his feet could carry him.

The fourth oyster wore a blue and yellow waitress uniform. A middle aged woman, with a badge that said Tessa.

He had made such a clatter in his careless, crazed approach that a suit was waiting for him, in front of the looking glass, with a loaded gun.

Hatter skidded to a stop, his eyes wild, cursing that he hadn't brought his body armor with him from Wonderland. The other suit was just pulling Tessa and the teenager through the glass.

"NO!"

A shot rang out, and Hatter dropped to the ground, clutching his side. The suit grinned maliciously as he walked toward the fallen man, and aimed the gun again.

Hatter's foot shot out, tripping the suit, and in the next moment, they were wrestling, scrambling for the gun. At one point, the suit managed to grasp it again, but the shot that was fired imbedded itself harmlessly in the ceiling. Then Hatter knocked the gun from his hand, and it skittered to the edge of the looking glass.

Hatter tried to land a punch, but this suit was faster then the others had been. He shoved Hatter back and slugged him in the side. Then he got up and raced toward the gun. Hatter grabbed him and pulled him back onto the floor, and maneuvered himself between the suit and his weapon, inadvertently placing himself directly in front of the looking glass.

Then the suit smiled, and rushed at Hatter, intent to tackle him into the waiting portal.

Hatter had never taken any of Alice's judo classes, but he had watched plenty of them. And as the suit raced toward him he planted himself and lowered his shoulder.

And flipped the suit perfectly over his shoulder and through the glass.

...

Only after he had run five blocks and ducked into another alley did Hatter slow to a stop. His side screamed at him, but when he pulled up his shirt, he saw that the bullet had just grazed him, not imbedded. He breathed a sigh of relief..

But the sigh caught in his throat, and turned into a half sob. They had taken Tessa. The first friend he had made in this world, and they had taken her, and she would be hooked up and drained of her emotions to make the teas that he had sold in what felt like a whole other life. And he started to wonder, had he sold any of her emotions?

Hatter felt guilty. For the first time in all his years of selling the teas for the queen, he started to grasp what it really meant to deal in human emotions.

He sank to the ground beside a dumpster, buried his face in his knees, and felt the unbearable heaviness of what he had done.

The people that had been taken, drained, and discarded. They had friends too. People who cared about them. People who loved them (like I love Alice, he thought to himself, which only made it worse), family. He wondered how Tessa's family would react to her disappearance. Or if she even had a family. He realized he had never asked her.

Was she one of the people that Alice had rescued from the casino? Mentally, he went back to that day, standing in the field during the showdown with the queen. He tried to remember the faces, but they all bled into each other, indistinct. He had been too busy paying attention to Alice, the queen, the guards, Jack and Duchess, and his own role to pay any attention to them.

If he could re-live that day, he would have looked at them, each of them. All the people.

He didn't know if it was because of Tessa. Or maybe because of Alice. But something had changed.

He couldn't call them oysters anymore.


	11. Chapter 11

**Here it is, the next installment. Sorry about the delay. Vacay is over and being at work doesn't allow me as much time with Hatter. Will try to get the next chapter up quickly. Thanks all who reviewed, please keep the reviews coming. Enjoy!  
**

It wasn't good news.

"They figure there's enough power left to keep the glass working til tomorrow morning," the eight of spades reported. "We need to capture the prince, and as many oysters as we can, and get back through tonight."

Agent White twitched, and pursed his lips. "That doesn't give us much time. We can't afford to lose sight of Jack today. I want a three man tail on him at all times."

"We can capture him tonight. We know where he'll be. He's going to that oyster, Alice's house to meet her mother." The six of spades leaned back in the overly plush hotel chair. "We've had the dojo bugged for a couple of weeks now. And he never breaks a date with her."

"We could pull it off without extra attention, grab him from the apartment. And the two oysters, well, they can be brought along too," the three of spades chimed in.

Agent White mulled this all over. That might just work out perfectly. As long as the Resistance didn't interfere. "Alright," he said finally. "Get what oysters you can today, and we'll get Jack tonight."

...

Hatter had noticed the lone White Rabbit tailing Jack. He had been watching from a coffee shop across the street from the dojo, then sitting at a bus stop bench outside of Jack's newest hotel, then pretending to operate a parking meter while Jack bought roses.

Jack had obviously noticed as well, and kept glancing around. A couple of times, even Hatter had to dart out of site to avoid being seen. And Jack seemed to be noticing that as well.

Regardless, Jack was now through the front door of Alice's building, heading up to her apartment armed with a bouquet of white roses. And Hatter knew his job was coming to an end.

Tonight was the night. The night Jack met Alice's mother. The night he gave Alice the ring. And the night that they both ended up in Wonderland.

It would also be the night, Hatter thought with a smile, that he would be reunited with his Alice... finally.

But a second later, that familiar cold hand of panic grabbed his stomach. What if she wasn't as happy to see him as he was to see her? What if it ended up being as awkward as the goodbye back in Wonderland? Would she really want him?

Would the last six weeks be worth it?

But even as the last question crossed his mind, he knew the answer. The past six weeks was worth it, because the end result of him being here was that Alice did come to Wonderland, and she had changed it, and him, forever. And no matter what happened now, that had already happened, and if that was all that happened, that would be enough to make it worthwhile.

But he longed, begged and pleaded with love and fate and any other higher power that might hear him, that more would happen. That this Hatter would have a chance at happiness with his Alice.

He settled himself down. Only a few more hours.

...

The vultures were starting to circle. Hatter saw the now-familiar white van drive slowly by Alice's building, and turn down a side street and into an alleyway. He melted back further into his hiding spot behind a dumpster. Then he saw him. Agent White himself, flanked by two other suits. He was looking up at the building, and Hatter could see by his jerky motions that he was instructing his men. Then they disappeared around the back of the building.

Hatter felt himself tense. The White Rabbit that he had been following looked at his watch. They seemed to be waiting for something.

Another suit walked out from the alleyway where they had parked the white van, and joined the waiting suit. They conferred quietly, then slipped around the other side of the building.

Jack and Alice were surrounded.

Hatter pulled out his cell phone, and quickly typed one word: RUN.

And he waited. He had expected to see Jack run out of the building within the minute. Instead, two minutes passed, then three, then four.

Where the bloody hell was Jack?

Then Hatter finally saw the man emerge through the door, and look around cautiously.

And then start jogging off in the direction that Hatter knew the van was parked.

_Not that way, _he texted furiously, but then stopped before he hit send. Yes, that way. He suddenly remembered that first day in the tea shop.

"_His name is Jack Chase. He was taken by a man with a white rabbit on his lapel."_

He watched as Agent White and his henchmen started down the side road and disappeared from where he could see them.

Then he saw something that made his blood turn to ice.

The door opened again, and Alice ran out. She looked both ways down the street, then tore off up the side street as well.

Hatter bit his hand to keep from crying out, and used every ounce of his will to stay behind the dumpster and not run after her. Everything in him wanted to protect her.

"This is how it happened," he whispered to himself. "She escaped from the scarab, which means they caught her. Which means that you can't stop them from catching her!" Still, he had to grip the edge of the bin with all the strength in his right hand to keep from running after them.

He could hear a scuffle going on, and some muffled yelling. He heard tires squeal, and some more muffled yelling. He clenched his eyes shut. "Don't move, Hatter. Don't move."

The alleyway had fallen quiet once again. Hatter relaxed his grip, and examined the crumpled edge of the industrial steel dumpster. He knew he needed to learn how to control his emotions here in this world. Somehow, they were so much stronger than any he had felt in Wonderland (and he was emotional, even by their standards, though he had learned to hide it). He couldn't just go destroying things whenever his emotions swelled. It would draw far too much attention.

"_Alice went back through the looking glass to almost the same time she left. She'll only be gone for an hour. Wait the hour, then meet her at the glass."_

Hatter paced back and forth, nervously talking out loud to himself again. "Keep it together. This is it. You can do this. This is what you came here to do."

A few passers-by shot him strange looks, and he silenced himself, only to start pep-talking himself out loud again seconds later. It had to be the longest hour of his life.

He made his way toward the warehouse, even before the hour had past. He ruefully remembered his rough entry into Alice's world, and he thought maybe if he arrived a bit early, he could catch her as she flew out of the glass.

But as he neared, he started to curse. He could see flashing lights, and there were two parked police cars at the entrance to the alleyway, along with an abandoned white van, which they seemed to be busy inspecting. However, none of the police were paying much attention to the warehouse. If he came from the other side, they wouldn't even see him.

It ate up a few minutes, but once he was in the warehouse, he took off running for the corridor he knew housed the looking glass.

And then he skidded to a stop, barely daring to breathe. He was too late to catch her. And now he really wished he had been on time.

Dark hair, blue dress, red stockings, crumpled together on the floor. And there was a bit of dark red on her forehead, coming from her hairline.

"No! Alice!" He rushed forward and cradled her into his arms, and was relieved to feel her breathing against him. She was alive, but unconscious, and he knew he had to get her some help.

He thought about trying to carry her out, or at least away from the looking glass (after all, how do you explain a "mirror" like that in a rundown warehouse). But he was afraid to move her, unsure about how hurt she might be. No, he definitely needed to get her some help.

He ran down the stairs, and out the side door, into the alley.

"OI!" He yelled. All four policemen instantly wheeled around, guns drawn, aimed at the figure coming up the alley toward them.

Hatter immediately put his hands above his head. "There's a girl, in the warehouse. I saw her run in. She's hurt."

Two policemen broke away, coming closer, guns still trained on Hatter. He felt increasingly nervous as they approached, but he kept on, breathlessly. "You have to help her. She's hurt."

"Who are you?" the younger of the cops finally demanded.

"I'm a construction worker." He jerked his head in the general direction of one of the bigger construction sites in the area. Even without his hard hat, he was sure he looked enough the part.

"You have a name?"

"David Hatter." He bit back against his frustration. He just wanted to get Alice help.

"What are you doing out here at this time of night, Mr Hatter?" the older cop demanded. "Little late to be working."

"I forgot … I forgot my hat at the site. I was heading back to get it. And I heard a scuffle. And I saw a girl running away into the building. I've been in there. Dangerous. It's falling apart. So I went in after her." He gulped. "She's hurt. You have to help her."

Finally, it seemed to actually register with the two men in front of him that there was actually someone needing their help. The older cop headed back toward the patrol car to call for an ambulance. And the younger cop put away his gun and pulled out his flashlight instead, motioning for Hatter to lead the way, and they rushed together into the warehouse.

Hatter took him up the stairs to the second level, then hesitated, trying to think of how to explain the looking glass. The cop read Hatter's hesitation as him not remembering quite where she was, and he went past Hatter and turned a corner.

"She's over here!" he yelled, and Hatter immediately reappeared at his side.

If the cop noticed the looking glass, he never said anything. Instead he pushed the hair out of Alice's face, and let out a small gasp. "Oh no, Alice."

Hatter was startled. "You know her?"

The cop nodded. "We're both black belts at the same dojo. Shit." And with that, he started checking her over for injuries.

Hatter could hear another siren wailing outside, and in a few moments, footsteps coming up the metal stairs. "Over here!" he yelled.

Once the paramedics were tending to Alice, the young cop ushered Hatter back down and out into the alley. "I'm going to need a statement from you."

"A what?" Hatter blinked, a bit dazed. His mind was still upstairs with Alice. The cop followed the path of his eyes.

"Hey," he said, drawing Hatter's attention again. "She'll be okay. Probably a concussion." Then he continued, "You said you heard a scuffle?"

Hatter nodded, still only half paying attention. He didn't know what a concussion was, but it didn't sound good. But he forced himself to focus, to come up with a convincing story. "I didn't see anyone, just heard them. And a woman yelling. When I came around the corner, I saw her running away, into the building."

They were bringing her out now, on a stretcher. Hatter watched with great concern as they transferred her onto a bed with wheels, and pushed it into the waiting ambulance.

Then he turned back toward the cop, concern written all over his face. "Can I go with her?"

The cop looked at him strangely. "Do you know Alice?" he asked.

"Well, no... not exactly..." Hatter stammered. "I just want to make sure she's okay."

He softened. "Look, David. They won't let you in to see her unless you're family. But I'll take your phone number and give it to Carol and ask her to call you and let you know how she is."

"Carol?"

"Her mom."

Hatter fumbled with his cell phone, and flipped it open. His phone number displayed at the bottom of the screen, and he read it to the cop, who wrote it down in his flip pad.

The ambulance was pulling away. Hatter watched it go almost mournfully.

"We still need to ask you a few questions, David," the cop said, taking Hatter by the arm and pulling him gently in the direction of the patrol cars. Hatter allowed himself to be led along, feeling shaken and lost.

He had been reunited with Alice. He had held her in his arms. But she was hurt, and seemed so small and helpless, so unlike the Alice he had seen in Wonderland or in this world. And now she was being pulled away from him again.

He hoped the cop would give Carol the phone number. And he hoped Carol would call him. He felt so afraid that it wouldn't work that way. And if it didn't, he would have to figure out another way to get to Alice.


	12. Chapter 12

For the last six weeks, Hatter had known what to do. Blend in. Protect Jack. Watch Alice. Follow the White Rabbit. And ensure that the past that was the future happened as it should.

Jack was gone. The White Rabbit was back on their side of the looking glass. And Alice was in the hospital being watched by her mother. And the past had come full circle back to the present.

Now all Hatter could do was wait. And he had never been good at waiting.

Initially he had gone back to his hotel room, deciding that sleep was probably the best way to pass the time, that and it was the middle of the night. But the city was feeling too loud, and he was far too restless, so he had gotten back up.

At first, he had reached for a plain blue t-shirt, but then had paused. He didn't need to blend in so perfectly anymore. With that thought, he reached into the bottom of his bag and pulled out a paisley shirt (not the one he had worn on all his adventures, that one had been a favorite, but it had been so torn and bloodstained that he had simply left it where he had let it fall, in the apartment in the lower city). This one was blue and green with hints of gold. And he pulled out his old leather jacket, and it felt good to shrug into it. He opted to still wear his jeans. The once hated blue trousers had proven to be quite comfortable and were even half-ways stylish if paired properly. The final result was a blending of his style from Wonderland and this world, and he found he liked it.

Then he reached past his hardhat, his caps, his fedoras, and dusted off the old tan pork-pie and perched it on top of his chaotic mop, with a slight smile.

He wandered, rather aimlessly. It was the middle of the night, and although there were still a few cars and even a few people around, nothing was open at this time of night, so he really didn't have anywhere to go.

As he walked, he worried about Alice. He hoped that she was alright. He hoped that a concussion wasn't as serious as it sounded. And he worried that the policeman hadn't given the number to Alice's mom, and he wondered how best he could work it to be reunited with Alice. Probably the dojo. He could sign up for lessons, maybe. He cringed when he realized that would be taking a page from Jack's book.

He had been so lost in his own thoughts that he hadn't realized where he was going until he was there. Standing in front of a plate glass window with a sign that promised All-Day Breakfast.

His heart lurched down in his chest with the heaviness of the guilt. He turned to walk away, but then he noticed that the light was on. And that someone was inside.

The disheveled waitress sat at a table, looking at her hands. But at the same time he noticed her, she looked up and saw him.

They stared at each other for a moment through the window. Hatter had initially felt a mix of relief and joy that Tessa was back. That means she had been one of the people that Alice had saved. But it was quickly replaced by fear, especially when he saw more emotions than he could identify in her eyes as she rushed toward the door that separated them. Confusion, wonder, desperation, doubt, possibly even a bit of anger?

He resisted the urge to run. Why was fight or flight always his initial reaction to uncomfortable situations? Survival skills, he supposed, but bothersome all the same, especially since he doubted very much that Tessa could physically harm him.

She had pulled open the door. "David," he heard her call.

He spun around with one of his charming smiles, but unsure that his eyes weren't betraying him. "Tessa, hi. You're here late."

She paused, a little uncertain. Then something caught her eye, and she was staring at him. Or rather, staring above him. And her brow wrinkled, as though she was trying to remember something.

Nervously he ran his fingers through his hair and felt his hat. That hat. The tan pork-pie he had been wearing in Wonderland. He quickly yanked it off of his head and hid it behind his back, and shrugged a bit apologetically.

Now she was really staring at him. And she gasped out, "Oh my gosh, it wasn't a dream, was it?" She looked as though she was about to fall over.

He swallowed hard, and prepared to catch her if she did pass out.

"You're Hatter."

He nervously ran his hand through his increasingly unruly hair and reluctantly but simply stated, "Yeah." He let out a breath that he didn't realize he had been holding. "Maybe we should go inside and talk, yeah?"

She had made them tea. After all she had been through, her first thought had been to look after his appetites, he thought with rueful amusement.

But the truth was, her sanity was hanging on by a thread at this point, and something as mundane as making tea was having a calming effect on her.

When she sat back down, she looked David... or Hatter, once over.

"You aren't from Britain are you?"

He shook his head no.

"You're from... there."

"From Wonderland, yeah."

She took a moment to digest this. She could see honesty in his eyes, although mixed with fear.

"Is your name really David?"

"Not exactly," he replied. She waited for him to continue. "Over there, everyone called me Hatter. That's all I've gone by for years. David was the name Jack gave me before I came here."

"So your name is Hatter?"

"Sort of." He paused, but she was obviously waiting for his answer. "Hatter is a family name, so to speak. My name's Andrew."

"So why didn't you go by Andrew here?"

"Well, Jack didn't know my real name." He hoped she would drop the name thing.

"So, Andrew then."

"No, don't call me that... You can call me Hatter. Or David."

She nodded. Then her brow crinkled again. "So if you're from Wonderland, what are you doing here?"

"I was protecting Jack from the White Rabbit."

"What?"

She had a lot of questions, and he forced himself to answer them as honestly as possible. She deserved that much. And she seemed surprisingly willing to believe anything he told her. Although, considering she had just come back from another world on the other side of a mirror...

He told her about how the last six weeks to him had been the future of what had, to her, just occurred over in Wonderland, how he had been sent here to ensure that the same Alice who had overthrown the queen would actually go to Wonderland in the first place and how he had seen the White Rabbit taking Tessa through the looking glass and had tried to stop them, tried to save her.

After she had taken some time to think this over, she said simply, "But you did stop them in the end. It was you and Alice who saved all of us."

The guilt came rushing back. "It wasn't me," he burst out. "It was all her. I wasn't trying to save anyone else, I was trying to save her. She was the one who saved everyone." He felt hot tears pricking the back of his eyes, but they didn't fall. "I'm not a hero. It was all Alice."

He had been playing with the edge of his hat, and he now realized that he had bent the rim completely out of shape. He worked at straightening it out for a moment, then he continued, so low that, even in the silence of the restaurant, she could barely hear him.

"I'm not a good person, Tessa. When I was in Wonderland, I ran a tea shop. I sold the emotion teas that were made from people like you at the casino. I served the people who were addicted to your emotions. I was playing both sides – the queen and the Resistance. I did a lot of things I wish I hadn't, but I didn't think about it back then, because I told myself it was what needed to be done." He gave a shuddering sigh, and as he looked up at Tessa with tormented eyes, a hot tear slid down his cheek. "Tessa, I'm so sorry."

Tessa stared at Hatter, a far different Hatter then had stood beside Alice that day in the field. No, this was definitely David, and now she knew why he had looked like he was carrying the weight of the world.

She couldn't tell him it was alright. She knew that was what he wanted, for her to forgive him so that he could forgive himself, but she didn't feel right offering him absolution for the things he had done before she had met him.

Instead she just reached over and squeezed his hand. She felt him hesitate, then squeeze her hand back.

…

The sky was already getting light when he made his way back to the hotel room. It had been an emotionally draining night, but it had been somewhat soul-cleansing. He knew there would be more questions. And he'd answer them. But a weight had been rolled off of his chest, knowing that she was still his friend.

And he felt like he had reclaimed a bit of his identity, now that someone else knew he was Hatter.

**The next chapter is the one you've all been waiting for... I promise!  
**

**But I needed to give this storyline closure. Let me know what you think  
**

**(Side note - Couldn't resist making Hatter's real name Andrew... lol)**


	13. Chapter 14

A loud, high-pitched jangle erupted beside Hatter's head, tearing him from a dead sleep and nearly sending him through the ceiling. He glared in shock at the offending piece of plastic on the night table by his head, and very nearly threw it to its doom against the wall.

It paused for a moment, then screamed at him again. Hatter grabbed at it, knocking it to the floor, but by that point, he was awake enough to realize what it was.

Hatter had never, in the six weeks he had been in this world, heard his phone make any sound at all. No one had his number, no one knew he was there, so no one had called. But someone was calling him now.

He scooped the phone up off the floor, and opened it.

"Hello?" His voice was still gravelly from sleep.

A woman's voice. "Hello, is this David?"

"Yeah, it is." He wished he could shake that early morning edge from his voice.

"My name is Carol. I understand you were the one who found my daughter Alice last night."

His heart started pounding so hard he was sure she would hear it through the phone. "Is she alright?"

"Yes, she's going to be okay. She woke up a few hours ago."

He breathed a heavy sigh of relief. "Good."

"Thank you," Carol said warmly, "for finding her."

"You're welcome." Was that what he was supposed to say? But he could almost hear Carol smiling on the other end of the line.

So he gathered a little courage. "Would it be okay," he asked tentatively, "if I stopped by to see her, make sure she's okay?"

"She's being released from the hospital this afternoon, David. But if you're free, why don't you stop by our place for coffee this evening. I'd like to thank you in person."

Hatter was almost bouncing on the bed in excitement, but he managed to contain himself to say a polite, "Thank you. I would like that very much."

In spite of years of learning to not let his emotions show, it was all he could do to keep the excitement out of his voice as he finished the conversation. Things had worked out exactly in his favor this time. Carol had invited him to come over, to see Alice. She had given him the address (although he already knew it from following Jack), and then they had exchanged polite goodbyes. Then Hatter had had thrown down the phone and started actually bouncing on the bed, laughing like an excited little kid.

Going back to sleep was definitely out of the question, in spite of only having slept four hours. It was still mid-morning though, and he would not be expected at Alice's home until evening. And right now, the evening felt like so far away.

He knew he needed to find something to occupy his time.

He decided that it was high time to check out his new home. Besides, he now had only two twenty dollar bills in paper money, and wouldn't be able to stay at the hotel any longer if he had wanted to. He really hoped he could live off of 40 dollars for another few days until Jack set up the plastic cards to have money on them.

He packed all of things, as best he could, although he ended up having to carry his hardhat and his fedoras in his hand. He went to the front desk, signed out and gave them the key. Then he went out the door and crossed the street to Jack's building. Although, really, it was no longer Jack's. It would now be Hatter's new home. He glanced back at the hotel, and turned another page in the book of his life.

New beginnings, he thought and a brilliant smile broke across his face. And he turned and unlocked the door and entered the building.

Jack's flat was three floors up, but when the doors to the elevator failed to immediately open, he instead decided to take the stairs.

He turned the key Jack had given him in the lock of the apartment door, and swung the door open.

The apartment was very spacious, with large windows, but had very plain white walls, wooden floors and had rather sparse and boring furnishings. There was a brown leather sofa and chair, a low hutch and a television in the living area, an immaculately clean kitchen that Hatter doubted Jack had ever used, and down a small hallway was a room with a large bed and a very large closet with mirrored doors. Another door led to a bath area and toilet. He could still see a few tell-tale signs of rummaging here and there, but the apartment had been put back into relatively good sorts since the White Rabbit's search.

It was boring and needed some personal touches, but Hatter was relieved to find that it was all neutral colors, with no sign of the gaudy red the Hearts liked to decorate everything with.

"This place could definitely use some plants," Hatter thought out loud. "Maybe a patch of grass." But then he reconsidered the lawn. People here didn't use grass for carpeting. Plus it might ruin the wood.

He took his pack to the mirrored closet, and threw open the doors.

The closet was very full of clothes. And expensive ones at that. Suits of almost every color you could imagine, soft cotton shirts, vests, and an entire row of trousers.

"And I thought I horded clothing," Hatter laughed to himself. Of course, none of Jack's clothes would fit him, and at first he wasn't sure what he would do with them, but he needed the closet room for himself. Right now he only had seven or eight outfits, but once the plastic cards worked...

Then again, he thought, Jack's clothes may come in handy.

A couple of hours later, Hatter left the consignment store with a much fatter wallet and much more closet space. Jack's suits had indeed been expensive, and the clerk had wondered how Hatter had gotten them, especially since they were all the wrong size to be his (that and he didn't look the type). He made up some excuse about them having been his businessman brother's, but his brother had to go back to England in a rush, and had left him to sell off his belongings. And the clerk had nodded and rang through the transaction.

Sometimes, Hatter thought, the accent was definitely convenient.

Another shop caught his eye on the way back to the flat. Well, it wasn't so much the shop that caught his attention, but rather the assortment of miniature trees in the front window. They looked very much like full sized trees, with bark and leaves and such, but they were only a few inches tall.

Hatter looked at the tiny trees, amused and intrigued by them instantly. They didn't have tiny trees like this in Wonderland, but somehow it still felt Wonderland-ish. A piece of home. In the end he left the shop with three little bonsais in a box, and a book on how to look after them.

In the end, the day didn't drag nearly as much as Hatter had worried that it would. There had definitely been moments where it did seem that time was standing still and insolently mocking Hatter. But once he had gotten busy making himself at home, time had passed a little more swiftly.

Now, in the final hours of the afternoon, he was faced with an entirely new dilemma. What would he wear?

He had tried on several outfits, and none had seemed to work. His first outfit had been so outlandish that he was sure that Carol would immediately slam the door in his face and deny him the chance to ever see Alice again. The second outfit was a far cry from the first, but still more than a little eclectic.

Had it just been Alice he had been going to see (which would be nerve wracking enough), he may have considered looking Wonderland-ish. But he was going to see Alice... and Alice's mother! And the need to make a good impression had shaken him into a petrified perfectionism that was not usually his style.

Clothes were now scattered all over the bedroom, and he was standing there dressed only in a pair of dark, loose fitting jeans, and he was at a loss as to what to pair them with.

Time ticked away, now seeming to speed up. It was definitely mocking him.

With a loud yell of frustration, Hatter finally threw on a white t-shirt and opted for a brown canvas jacket to go over it. He inspected his reflection in the mirrored doors, and decided that it was the best he had come up with yet.

"Now to tackle you, my friend," he said out loud, playing all ten of his fingers in his chaotic mop.

Trying to tame a head of hair such as his was no easy task. He would no sooner have one side of his hair laying flat, then the other side would start to curl skywards again. He spent a great deal of time fighting with it and cursing, but finally it gave in and lay down in a relatively organized fashion, and he pulled his black fedora down on top of it with a grunt.

…

He had been rooted to the same spot for nearly a half hour. Half a block away from Alice's building, just staring up at it and trying to breathe normally. Every fear he had nursed or ignored since the day Alice had disappeared into the looking glass, so many weeks ago, started to swarm him all at once. Would she want him? Would she be happy to see him?

And since last night, a new fear had added to the tally. Would she even remember him?

Tessa had been confused. Her memories had felt more like a strangely vivid dream then an actual memory. It wasn't until she had seen that hat that she had become sure.

And Hatter was not wearing THAT hat. What if Alice thought it was all a dream? Would she recognize him in the normal clothes? Would she recognize him without his lucky hat? Why hadn't he worn that hat?

He was so close. This is what he had been waiting for. And now worry was making him wait again... when he could see exactly where he wanted to be.

He punched himself in the leg, a little harder then he had intended, and his leg protested throbbingly at him. "Just go get her, Hatter!" he practically shouted at himself. Several passers-by paused, then made a wide arc around him as they kept going.

"Get it together, get in there," he continued to pep-talk himself.

And finally his feet came unglued from the sidewalk and he quickly closed the distance to Alice's building and made his way up the stairs to the door of her apartment.

His finger hesitated slightly on the door bell button, and he whispered, "Please let her be happy to see me," to the walls. Then he forcefully pushed the button and stood there, hat in fidgeting hands, trying to occupy them in a desperate attempt to keep from running his hands through his hair.

He didn't have to wait long. An athletic middle aged woman in a green dress opened the door, with a warm smile.

"Come in, you must be David."

"Yes ma'am," he said with a polite smile, and shook her hand.

"Call me Carol," she insisted, and ushered him into the front room, before walking a few steps to call down the hallway.

"Alice! Come meet David!"

He heard slow, quiet footfalls coming up the hallway, and then there she was. He caught himself checking her out all over again. She was wearing a black and gray sweater over a burgandy shirt and some very shapely jeans, that hugged her curves almost as much as that very wet blue dress she had been wearing the first day he met her.

She looked sad, though. She was staring at her fingers and twisting them around, and seemed reluctant to be there at the moment. Hatter felt his heart hitch in his chest watching her.

But she finally looked up, and Hatter saw her jaw drop slightly in amazement. Then her whole face lit up with a smile as she cried out, "Hatter!" His name had never, ever sounded better to him.

Then she was running at him, and throwing herself, with all the force in her body, into his arms and flinging her arms around his neck, gasping a little.

He wrapped his arms tightly around her, feeling the solidity of her form against his. It wasn't a dream. It was real. Alice was really in his arms.

The last shreds of his fear disappeared. The loneliness and worry, the strain of having to watch her with Jack, the frustration, the six weeks spent living in the past – in that moment, all of it was melted away by the warmth of the woman in his arms.

Feeling overwhelmed, but in the best way imaginable, he breathed it all out into a single word. "Finally!"

**There you have it. Hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. I'm contemplating a sequel... we'll see. Thanks to all my wonderful reviewers! You made this an exceptionally fun experience. Please let me know what you think of the story as a whole (Please review).**

**Cheers!**

**Raeni  
**


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